Pac-Tending 03-12-08

"Personally, I can say that three of these [titles] stand out above all the others: the very first one, the one that we won by eight points and this one. We have a young team and most of the country expected this to be the year the steak ended."

- Stanford head men's swimming coach, Skip Kenney, after the Cardinal won their 27th consecutive Pac-10 men's swimming title by 96 points over runner-up and rival California.

Tournament time continues at the Creek as the Pac-10 men's hoop tournament begins this week while the women finished up their conference tournament with Stanford claiming the title.

In men's swimming, Stanford won their 27th consecutive conference crown.

Meanwhile, at NCAA HQ, the UCLA Bruins won the Pac-10's portion of the NCAA's "Pack the House" promotion designed to encourage attendance at women's basketball games. UCLA will receive prizes and the NCAA will donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of UCLA's choice.

Stanford

In men's hoop, head coach Trent Johnson was named as the conference's coach of the year.

In women's hoop, head coach Tara VanDerveer was named as the conference coach of the year while senior guard Candice Wiggins was named as the player of the year and freshman forward Kayla Pedersen was named as freshman of the year.

Washington

In men's hoop, forward Jon Brockman is doubtful for the Huskies' first-round Pac-10 conference tournament game against California with an ankle injury.

In football, former high school coach Steve Gervais was hired as running backs coach.

UCLA

In men's hoop, freshman center Kevin Love was named as the conference's player of the year and freshman of the year while sophomore guard Russell Westbrook was named as the conference's defensive player of the year.

In women's hoop, senior forward Lindsey Pluimer was named as the conference's scholar-athlete of the year.

USC

In men's hoop, sophomore forward Taj Gibson was named as the conference's player of the week.

In football, Trojan recruit Maurice Simmons was arrested and charged with felony robbery and assault with a firearm.

Oregon State

In men's hoop, the Beavers lost to rival Arizona and Arizona State to become the only team in Pac-10 conference history to go winless in conference play at 0-18 and finished 6-24 overall with a 264 RPI.

Oregon

In men's hoop, the Ducks swept Arizona and Arizona State to finish the regular season at 18-12 overall and 9-9 in conference play with a 52 RPI.

Arizona

In men's hoop, head coach Lute Olson announced he expects to return as head coach of the Wildcats next year – replacing interim head coach Kevin O'Neill - after taking a year-long hiatus.

In women's hoop, senior guard Ashley Whisonant and sophomore forward Rheya Neabors were suspended for violating team rules.

California

In men's hoop, the Bears were swept by USC and UCLA to fall to 15-14 overall and 6-12 in conference play with a 93 RPI.

WSU

In men's hoop, 21st-ranked Wazzu defeated rival Washington to finish the regular season at 23-7 overall and 11-7 in conference play with a 21 RPI.

In women's hoop, the Cougars lost to Oregon in the first round of the Pac-10 conference tournament to finish their season at 5-25 overall with a 290 RPI.

In tennis, 39th-ranked Wazzu lost to UCLA and USc but defeated UC-Santa Barbara and Cal Poly to move to 12-5 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

In baseball, Wazzu took three of four games from Kent State to improve to improve to 10-2 overall on the season with a 62 RPI.

In football, defensive back Markus Dawes will apply for a medical redshirt.

Arizona State

In women's hoop, junior guard Briann January was named as the conference's defensive player of the year.

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